I'm making cut out sugar cookies. Of course, I don't remember which recipe I used last year. So one recipe I have includes baking powder, and one doesn't. Curious what everyone else is using and if your recipes include baking powder??

20 Comments

Finally, here are my results! The batch with no baking powder were flatter, not surprisingly. I preferred the ones WITH the baking powder, which produced an ever-so-slightly-more puffier cookie.

I made a bunch of different batches, some using confectioner's sugar, some granulated sugar, some w baking powder, some w/o. All the recipes produced a great roll-out dough. The confectioner's sugar recipe was a little sandier in texture. My favorite was the cookie made with granulated sugar and baking powder - slightly puffy and less sandy.

Here are some of the finished product, below. I decorated with royal icing, from this recipe: http://onetoughcookienyc.com/blog/2010/04/a-royal-dilemna/ with a touch of cornflower blue coloring gel. I added a tsp. of almond extract to my icing, as well.

Re:chicken skin. I'm thinking that baking powder-crisped chicken skin might be crispy all right, but how would it taste? I actually like Thomas Keller's high-heat method for roasting chicken, and you can season with whatever you like.

Oh my goodness! Rumford does say double acting right on the can! I'm glad you pointed that out mrslarkin. I had read that it was the double acids in a baking powder formula that indicated it was double acting. My mistake!

Heat oven to 400°F. Roll chilled dough 1/4" thick between two pieces of plastic wrap. (If you do this instead of rolling the dough on a floured surface, your cookies will be more tender-crisp and less flour-y tough.) Cut into desired shapes. Place 1" apart on ungreased baking sheets, or line baking sheets with parchment. Bake in center of oven for 6 to 10 minutes (depending on size) or until edges are lightly browned.

For easy storage, stackability and a longer shelf life, I decorate with thinned royal icing flavored with Wilton clear vanilla.

To get a rise out of muffins, biscuits and scones, the proportion is usually 1 teaspoon baking powder for each cup of flour. The LoL recipe is 1 teaspoon baking powder per 2 1/2 cups flour, so the rise is minimal.

Do either of your recipes contain baking powder and milk? You'll have a puffier, more cake-like texture. Growing up, my boys liked these kind of sugar cookies better than the flat ones--for eating.

The Cook's Illustrated recipe starts out like a dream (Mix 1 tablespoon kosher salt or 1 1/2 teaspoons table salt, 1 teaspoon baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper. Rub this mix evenly all over an unbrined chicken that weighs about 4 pounds. Refrigerate it uncovered for 12 to 24 hours.) before turning into a nightmare that involves a V-shaped rack, a pan, precautions to prevent your kitchen from filling with smoke, poking holes into the kitchen in 16-20 places, and two temperature changes, one at 500 degrees. The result is a chicken that, yes, has crispy skin (although my chicken roasted at a solid 425 degrees is also very crispy and juicy), but it's not the deep dark brown color I like and it's flavored only with salt and pepper. It's not erverything it's crisped up to be.

My red can of Rumford says it's double acting. Shirley Corriher says in her book BakeWise (here I go again) that Rumford, Calumet, and Clabber Girl are double-acting, and that since Rumford is an all-phosphate baking powder, it's faster acting than most double-acting powders. So, she says to be speedy when using Rumford and get it into the oven quick because most of the bubbles are released just after mixing. But I don't think this would be as critical in a flat, rolled cookie as it would be for say, a cake.

Ok, I just tasted the baking powder, and I am NOT rubbing it on my chicken! Looks like iuzzini will be testing that one. Or drbabs??

Rumford Baking Powder is single acting. It's made with monocalcium phosphate, baking soda and cornstarch. It's the baking powder David Lebovitz recommends for most baked goods. He says that the sodium aluminum sulfate gives a slightly metalic flavor to delicately flavored baked goods. (frankly, my taste buds aren't quite that sensitive to pick up on that..but I obey!)

Baking Powder, like baking soda, is a leavener that when activated, creates carbon dioxide to provide lift to a baked good. The active ingredients in baking powder are baking soda and an acidic element, such as cream of tartar. (Additionally, baking powder has cornstarch to absorb moisture and keep the powder dry). Since carbon dioxide gas is produced when baking soda comes in contact with a moist, acidic environment, cooks uses baking powder rather than baking soda when there is no natural acidity in the batter.

There are two kinds of baking powder. A single-acting baking powder has only one acid combined with the baking soda—a quick-acting acid that begins to work when liquid is added to the batter. A double-acting baking powder (like most supermarket brands) has two acids added to the baking soda. The second acid (often sodium aluminum sulfate) begins to work only when the dish is put in the oven, after the temperature has climbed above 120 degrees. We recommend using double-acting baking powder in all recipes—baked goods rise higher since most of the rise with baking powder occurs at oven temperatures. Double-acting baking powder also provides sufficient lift in the oven to allow you to bake frozen (unbaked) dough. Also, we have also found that single-acting baking powder doesn't provide sufficient leavening for doughs with little liquid such as scones or muffin.

Besides leavening, baking powder can help crisp the skin of roasted chicken. When rubbed on chicken skin, baking powder reacts with the proteins in the chicken skin, speeding up dehydration and producing crisper skin.